Are you getting the freebie Bee Gees?

On Thursday, you will be able to download some of the latest tunes from the catalogues of 50 recording labels, including EMI and Bertelsmann's BMG. The pan-European offer marks a change in the way music labels are pursuing customers for paid-for online music services. As well as trying to shut down Napster-eque peer-to-peer file-sharing services such as Morpheus, they are now trying woo them in equal measure with free music. ...more

Red Hat turns to virtualisation for customer cost savings

Customers are to remain in the driving seat in Red Hat's road map, according to Red Hat senior executives, and virtualisation will provide the engine. Red Hat's new CTO Brian Stevens outlined why the technology will provide the next disruptive episode in the march of Open Source. He said that the fundamental issues of cost are still the headline priority for customers. ...more

School bullying by new technology

Some children are turning to new technology in order to bully their victims. Professor Peter Smith, a leading Government adviser, said that children are using SMS text messaging and e-mail to threaten other children. Professor Smith is head of the Unit for School and Family Studies and noticed the new trend after looking at the results of a recent survey into bullying. ...more

UK games charts: FIFA still on top

Still football mad after all these years; while Pro Evolution 3's fiercely loyal following can only keep the PS2 title at tenth place in the charts, the glitz and glamour of FIFA 2004 ensures that the title retains the number one spot for a fourth consecutive week. Activision's True Crime improves upon last week's early showing, rising from number three to number two, while Nintendo's corking Mario Kart: Double Dash puts in a strong showing at number three. EA's Lord of the Rings: Return of The King is the other major new entry at number four; elsewhere there's not a phenomenal amount of change, though Harry Potter spin off Quidditch World Cup manages to leap from 19 to a more impressive eighth place in the charts. ...more

IBM, Infineon to research new high-speed memory

IBM has teamed up with chip developers Macronix and Infineon to form a joint research project to investigate the possibilities of a new form of computer memory technology known as phase-change memory (PCM). PCM stores data by changing the state of a special material from an amorphous to a crystalline structure, rather than storing data as an electrical charge. Although still in the experimental stage, the technology could eventually be used for high speed, high density data storage. ...more